Former world No 3 Casey seals first win in over two years at Irish Open

Just about everything that can go wrong has to do so for a player to fall from inside the world’s top three to 169th in less than four years.

Injuries? Paul Casey racked them up by the bucket load. Personal problems? The 35-year-old Englishman found himself embroiled in a painful divorce.

Class may be permanent as they say but even for one of the great ball strikers of his generation it is still a long road back when you are down among the supporting cast and have lost your privileges to play in the biggest events in the game.

So how good to see Casey announce his return to the limelight with a stunning performance to win
the Irish Open at Carton House yesterday and claim his first victory
since January 2011.

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Celebration: Casey putted an eagle on the 18th green to take the clubhouse lead and an emotional victory

Casey surges back up rankings

Paul Casey's victory in the Irish Open has lifted the Englishman 67 places in the latest world rankings, although he is still outside the top 100.

Casey, who was ranked as high as third back in 2009, moved from 169th to 102nd in the standings after a final round of 67 gave him a three-shot win at Carton House.

American Bill Haas moved from 29th to 24th following his win in the AT&T National, while the only change in the top 10 sees Brandt Snedeker reclaim seventh place from Luke Donald.

At the 18th he was exultant after
rolling in a 45ft putt for an eagle three. All those dark days suddenly
seemed an age ago as he completed a marvellous 67 to come from four
behind with a round to play to win by three from fellow Englishman
Robert Rock and Joost Luiten of Holland.

No wonder his eyes became misty as he
took in his win. ‘This feels incredibly sweet,’ Casey said. ‘It has been
a while and when that putt went in I was feeling half relief and half
satisfaction at completing such a great round. Winning the Irish Open is
an absolute dream.’

On a tortuous day with winds gusting
up to 35mph and heavy showers interspersed with strong sunshine, Casey
made his move with a startling run of five birdies in six holes from
the eighth so good Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray described it as
‘some of the best golf we will see all season’. With good reason too.

But Casey did have a nervy 20 minutes.
An unexpected bogey at the 15th was followed by another at the 16th.
His lead was down to one. Then came the only eagle seen on the 18th hole
all day. What a way to end the hard times.

Just behind: Robert Rock (left) and Joost Luiten were close but in the end no match for the on-form Casey

Last week Casey had talked to
Sportsmail about the motivation offered by Justin Rose’s US Open victory
two weeks ago. Now that incentive has taken a tangible form and who
knows where it might lead?

Casey, who had to qualify to play in
that US Open, said: ‘It was great to be there to see Justin win. You can
see all the hard work he has put in over the last two years and how it
has paid dividends. Does it motivate me? For sure. That is where I want
to be.’

There might have been no home
challenger to entice the crowd but they still turned up in vast numbers.
For a time it looked as if the fairytale would be written by Jose Maria
Olazabal, 47, who shared the lead with Luiten after playing his first
10 holes in four under.

Eight years on since his last victory,
there was to be no miracle this time for the man at the helm for
Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph at Medinah.